Why does hurting myself make me feel better? Should I stop hurting myself or is it the right thing to do?

Hurting yourself can make you feel better for a variety of reasons. This may be because you need an destructive outlet for your feelings, because you feel that you deserve to be punished, because you feel numb and want to experience something, simply because pain is enjoyable to you, or any other reason. Self-harm, however, is a slippery slope, and once you do it for long enough, stopping becomes very difficult. Remember that you are worthy of love and respect and that there are other ways of processing emotion. You don't have to self-destruct. You don't have to hurt yourself. It doesn't have to be the way that it is now. Personally, I recommend stopping because there is always a better way, even if you don't see it yet.

It feels better because it temporarily shifts focus from your emotional pain to physical pain. It is NOT at all the right thing to do.

The right thing to do would be to find your alternatives, start on the path to stopping, and find a way to resolve what's making you feel bad in the first place. Self harm is only a temporary relief of a bigger problem, and that bigger thing needs to be addressed. It makes you feel better because it's a release, it gives you control. But it would make you feel even better when you start recovering :)

I can understand the feeling of instant gratification a person may feel when they are harming themselves. Most people would argue that it's better to feel physical pain than emotional pain, but I don't think bringing yourself harm is the best way to deal with hurt. I'm no expert, but I don't think you can heal yourself from hurt, by further hurting yourself.

Cutting releases endorphins. Personally for myself cutting was a way to not kill myself. It was my way of coping and my way of ensuring i woke up every morning and go to work. I also made sure i was cutting in 'safe places'. My doctor told me where to avoid, told me to clean every cut with antiseptic spray and cover it. This really helped me to not feel judged. Whether you want advice or help to stop then please reach out to a friend, doctor or counsellor.

Hurting oneself is a coping mechanism that helps you dealing with all your emotions and thought that you can't seem to handle on your own just now. It takes what is hurting on the inside to the outside and with that making you feel better - for the moment. It is okay to rely on this coping strategy for now if it is something that helps you. There are alternatives though to really hurting yourself, i.e. putting a rubber band on your wrist and twitching it, putting cold ice cubes on your wrist, doing sports like running around the block, scream into a pillow or maybe even beat it, etc. There are many alternatives out there and it is worth looking for them - you have to find your own though, because others will never fully grasp what exactly helps you the best! In the end it is always, always vital to go down the long way, find the reasons that are pushing you to self harm and work on these issues. It can be a long way but it will be worth the fight!

It makes you feel better because in the situation of depression feeling anything other than that depression, in this case pain, is better than feeling nothing.

self harm is never the right thing to do. it probably makes you feel better because you feel like you're getting what you deserved for something, but that's not true. the best thing i can recommend getting a therapist or talking to someone like your school counselor.

Because physical pain, took your attention from mental pain, and you have feeling that "helped", but in reality no

Sometime self harm releases a chemical into the mind that gives a moment of relaxation and happy feelings, but the pain and sadness will eventually come back. It is an addiction, and can make many people feel lesser than. You can find help in countless places to stop, and I highly recommend stopping it as soon and as safely as possible to avoid a rebound.